Art by Alinah_09
So, this movie was released to the world in the good old year of 1984. Ronald Reagan was in office, cocaine was everywhere, and George Orwell wrote a book about that year. It was also a real good year for cinema… And then this movie came out. Parents hated this movie, saying that children should not have to see Santa killing people in theaters, because apparently parents can’t see R ratings. It’s like movement to dinosaurs. Parents vision is based on letters that don’t have an R in it. However, this huge amount of controversy only made this movie even more popular. Angry parents just seemed to help advertise this movie, and now Silent Night, Deadly Night is a cult classic among movie goers. So congratulations, all you people who hated the movie despite never watching it. Instead of getting the film removed, you ended up having it brought back for the entire world to enjoy. It must be all you ever wanted. This movie even tries to pass itself off as being as good as Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, and Friday the 13th…. It’s not
Okay, enough with that. Let’s talk about the actual movie. The movie takes place on Christmas… obviously. Billy, a young boy at the beginning of the film, watches along with his brother as a man dressed as Santa murders his parents (With a gun, so this is probably the first time a slasher movie had a killer use a gun) in front of them… And not the kids. Because what’s the worst that witnesses could do to him. I’m just saying, if you’re going to commit murder to a happy family, go all the way. Anyway, years later, after growing up in an orphanage, Billy, now an adult, dresses in a Santa costume and starts going around, murdering people who he deems naughty. From that point on, it’s just your typical slasher movie. The only difference is that it’s Christmas. Young couples have a bit of fun, screw around, get drunk and have sex, and then Billy comes in with his axe and kills them. It’s what you’d expect from a movie such as this. It’s nothing spectacular, but nothing terrible either. That’s for the sequel.
This movie is just so simple when it comes to slasher movies. Just because it takes place on Christmas, it doesn’t mean it’s got a lot of new ideas. A serial killer Santa can only stay fresh for so long. While this movie isn’t exactly the most well told story ever, it does manage to have some interesting scenes. These kills that Billy commits could pass as special kills if he ever ends up as the next DLC character for Mortal Kombat X (Oh, I hope). Impaling people with arrows, strangling someone to death with Christmas lights. And who can forget the classic kill where Billy decapitates a teenager with an axe as he passes by on a sled. However, Billy’s ultimate goal is to murder Mother Superior, the cruel head of the orphanage. Why are all orphanages run by awful people? But, at the end of the movie (Spoilers), Billy is shot down in front of the orphans (Because that won’t fuck them up in a few years), and at the end of the movie, Billy’s brother, Ricky, tells Mother Superior that she has been naughty, and the movie ends. Is that a good ending, no. But it at least gives a reason for the sequel (Which I will be reviewing. That one is a real treat).
Silent Night, Deadly Night is far from a good Christmas slasher movie… or a movie in general. Critics weren’t exactly fond of this movie, even saying that it was made on blood money and that the entire filming crew should be ashamed. Is it that bad? No. It’s bad. It’s REALLY bad. But it’ wasn’t that bad. Then again, this is the same guy who likes Killer Klowns from Outer Space, so I’m not exactly Roger Ebert. But, for some reason, it must have been good enough to get a cult following, and not one, not two, but four sequels. Yes, four! And even a remake in 2012. I’ve never watched the remake and I’ve never heard anyone talk about it, but the cover has Santa with a flamethrower on it, so it must be the greatest movie ever. Silent Night, Deadly Night is a very, very, VERY simple slasher film. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all, including this one. But, if you really want a good laugh, or just want to watch Santa decapitate a teenager while he goes down a hill on a sled (Oddly specific of you), then this is the movie for you. Take care.
Okay, so far, most of these movies have been new experiences for me. Most of them were films I had never seen, or even heard about. But then, we get to this movie. This film is a classic. This is one that I had watched when I was a kid and got real into. I even watched the garbage sequels. Tremors was not really the biggest hit when it first came out, but it soon became huge after it got released on video and played on television. Is this movie as good as I remember. For Cultober, let’s take a look at 1990’s Tremors and find out
Tremors follows two handymen, Val and Earl, who get tired...
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Tremors follows two handymen, Val and Earl, who get tired...
